Staff Reporter.
Michael Carrick was given no timescale and no certainty by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward when asked to step in as manager following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dismissal.
It seems certain Carrick will remain in charge for Sunday’s trip to Premier League leaders Chelsea after overseeing Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Villarreal.
There are then four days until Arsenal visit Old Trafford on 2 December and by then some clarity will surely have emerged around what, to outsiders at least, appears a pretty confused picture.
In their statement confirming Solskjaer’s exit, United said they were looking to appoint an “interim manager” to the end of the season.
The wording suggests United accept their preferred choices may not be available until the summer as they are already in work and do not believe Carrick, who has never been a manager, is a viable option to hold the position for the rest of the campaign.
Yet the strategy feels complicated and inherently means the club would be appointing a manager on the basis they will leave within as few as six months when they have found someone better.
Only realists, or older managers possibly not seeking a permanent job, are likely to find that scenario attractive.
Steve Bruce has been mentioned but, despite being a former United skipper, his last months as Newcastle manager are unlikely to inspire optimism among fans – and United have plenty of time and incentive to turn this season around.
Some may wonder if Sir Alex Ferguson, with more pedigree than anyone in the game, could be a luxury stop-gap – but the reality is the Scotsman is now 79.
The names already mentioned for the role – former United defender Laurent Blanc and seasoned coach Ralf Rangnick – already have jobs.
Blanc is manager of Al Rayyan in Qatar, where the season continues until March. Rangnick is technical director at Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow, who admittedly do take a 10-week winter break from the middle of December.
Lucien Favre has been out of work since being sacked by Borussia Dortmund in 2020. The 64-year-old has been linked with numerous Premier League jobs and was close to getting the Crystal Palace job in the summer before turning it down.
While those within Old Trafford defend their intended use of an interim manager until the summer, they acknowledge that if someone who was in their thinking to take over permanently became available, they would go for him now.
It is known former Tottenham boss Mauriciao Pochettino is open to the idea of joining Manchester United. It is also felt Pochettino could be recruited now if United pushed for him given his unease at the structure around him at Paris St-Germain.
If there are risks with Pochettino, they are even greater with some of the other candidates.
Brendan Rodgers has done an excellent job at Leicester for two seasons, securing fifth-place finishes in successive years and winning the FA Cup last season.
Zinedine Zidane is available now but has no interest in the job. Luis Enrique is unlikely to welcome any distraction to his World Cup preparations with Spain – and he won’t be done with them until the end of next year, unless he decided to quit, which is not expected.
As Carrick said, the focus is on a Champions League game against Villarreal, where United must avoid defeat if they are to keep qualification for the knockout phase in their own hands.
After that it is Chelsea, a game United fans will approach with trepidation given the heavy punishment already inflicted on them by other top-three sides Liverpool and Manchester City.
With inputs from BBC Sport.